The Russian has been in red-hot form after winning his seventh ATP title last week at the Almaty Open and came into the match with a 2-1 lead in the head to head with Draper. But he struggled to find inroads against Draper’s “PlayStation” tennis: the Brit didn’t face a break point in first set, and he opened up a 4-0 lead in the second before Khachanov roared back.
“Geez, I was playing so good, and then the momentum shifted a little bit,” Draper said afterward.
“Honestly I didn’t feel like I was too nervous or too tight, I just missed a few balls here and there and maybe a couple of wrong decisions. Karen just started swinging, started picking up his level. That’s a testament to how good he is, he’s a fighter and he’s in great form.
“It got really tight there for a minute, but I stayed solid and I stayed mentally in a good frame. Luckily I was able to come through when it mattered.”
